Loom



. 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 LOOM E. S. WESSBORG El AL Filed Feb. 7, 1938 HAE/V555 TQA ME Ii l! July 25, 1939;

A TTORNE Y.

July 25, 1939.

E. S. WESSBORG El' AL LOOM Filed Feb. '7. 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2v July 25, 1939. E. s. wEssBoRG Er Al. 2,167,193

LOOM

4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. '7, 1958 LOOM E. S. WESSBORG El' AL Filed Feb. 7, 1938 4 Slyts-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

BY /ffs my ATTORNEY.

or design- Patented July 25, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LOOM Application February 7, 1938, Serial No. 189,158

11 Claims.

This invention relates to hand operated looms and the improvement pertains more particularly to means interposed between the beater and the harness frames whereby all thread arrangements for developing the pattern in the finished weave are made without any visual supervision by the operator.

The general type of hand loom to which our improvement is adapted to be applied is well known in the weaving art.

Earlier looms provided for raising and lowering the warp threads in a predetermined sequence so as to form two lines between which the weft threads were passed. It picked or placed weft threads between the divided Warp threads, and it beat or struck each weft thread into its appropriate position in the fabric. The Warp thread was held taut and was delivered as: the weaving proceeded, and the cloth as manufactured was drawn away. yThe fabric was stretched widthwise in order to prevent the edge threads of a warp from injuring the reed or comb of the beater.

'I'he warp threads were raised and lowered by vertically movable harness frames to form the two lines or shed between which the weft thread was passed. The shuttle was driven through this shed, carrying the weft thread with it, and the beating or consolidating of the weave was done gy the reed when pulled forward with the beater Intermittently driven rollers took up the cloth, and a spring-tensioned drag, applied to the warp beam, regulated the let-olf and warp tension.

The warp threads were passed in pairs f through spaces between the vertical wires of the reed to keep them in line. The' reed also determined the closeness of the warp threads and guidedthe shuttle from side to side.

In earlier days it was customary to selectively place the-threads' 'by working foot treadles that actuated the respective harness frames, and by working the 'shuttle and the beater by hand. That operation was slow and complicated, and required the operators constant attention to place the threads properly fora given pattern.

More recently, attempts have been made to eliminate the foot treadles vand to perform automatic rharness shifting by direct cam actions. Such looms could not make a rug with a pattern Our improvement obviates all the difficulties above mentioned as being associated withtypical hand looms of the old art.

A general object of this invention is` to provide -V a practical vand efficient loom mechanism for the use of blind persons whereby their daily output can be enormously increased over that produced by ordinary hand loom Work, and the work can be done with greater comfort -and less fatigue; and especially is the improvement an outstanding one because of its capacity for unlimited changes of pattern in the product, on a production scale.

A more specific object is to provide a novel harness selecting devicethat converts an ordinary hand loo-m into a dependable semi-automatic Weaving machine adapted for use by blind persons or by relatively unskilled operators in making Woven fabrics of various patterns and colors at a commercial rate of production, and without defects.

A further new and useful feature of this invention is an improvedand simplified mechanism by which the beater is operatively connectedto the harness selecting device, the purpose being to insure forceful and positive actions of the selector and sure release of certain of the harness frames at each full stroke of the beater. This intermediate or connecting mechanism is so simplified that a blind person can perform all the manipulations necessary in weaving with full condence that no mistakes in pattern, composition ,can occur because of lack of visual watchfulness.`

A further object is to provide aselector having mechanism interconnecting it with the beater and. so ruggedly constructed as to withstand continuous hard usage without getting out of order, yet capable of being readjusted to compensate for Wear or misalinement.

The principal devices organized in the example of a loom embodying our claimed'invention, in a preferred form selected for purposes of this description, may be enumerated briefly as follows:

(1) A series of conventional harness frames capable of rising and falling vertically, each having an upright rod projecting from the middle of its upper edge, there Vbeing a shoulder on each rod;

(2) A series of levers equal in number to the rods and each having a spring-actuated latch positioned to get under the shoulder on the corresponding rod when the rod andk the harness frame suspended therefrom are in raised position and allowed to gravitate freely;

(3) A tripping device adapted to release such latchesin predetermined sequence, and characterized by a series of tappets arranged on a carrier to which vis imparted stepwise movement by which twoA ormore tappets of the vseries are'positioned operatively in relation to corresponding levers;

(4) A snap-action striker arranged upon being released to impinge simultaneously on all tappets thus positioned; thereby releasing together the latches of corresponding harness frames, which drop;

(5) Mechanical interconnections between the aforesaid tappet carrier and the beater of the loom, such that near the extremity of each movement of the beater in a direction toward the operator the following operations are performed in sequence: Y

(a) The raising of all previously dropped harness frames and their free suspension,

(b) The raising of the snap-action striker,

(c) 'Ihe moving of the carrier so as to bring the required number of tappets into operative position,

(d) The temporary locking of the carrier against undesired movement,

(e) Immediately thereafter, and near the end of travel of the beater, release of the snapaction striker and its resultant impingement upon the required tappets,

() Finally, releasing the lifters that raised the harness frames, whereby the selector apparatus is restored to its original position.

With the foregoing objects in view and certain others to appear later in the specifications, the invention in such preferred embodiment comprises the devices and arrangements which will now be described. That description will be followed by disclosure of another and modified embodiment. Both will be included in certain of the appended claims.

Fig. l is a diagrammatic side view showing the loom framework, the beater, and the loc-ation of the harness frame selector, and the mechanical connections of the beater with the frame-raising device and with the harness selecting devices.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the upper part of the framework with the selector, as seen from the right-hand side, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the selector mechanism.

Fig. 3a is a similar but fragmentary view showing some of the parts in locked position.

Fig. 4 is a rear end view of the parts shown in Fig. 3 with part of the housing removed.

Fig. 5 is a top plan View of the parts shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section on line 6 5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. '7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the lower part of the interconnecting mechanism between the beater and the harness frames, and between the beater and the harness frame selec- Fig. 3 is a part sectional View, taken in the direction of the arrow, of the parts shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view on the line 9-9 of Fig. 7.

For purposes of description, a hand loom having four harness frames is shown. Each harness frame has an upright bar D and each bar has latching and releasing means E. The frameraising mechanism is actuated by beater A to lift two projecting ends B of the frames, Fig. 2. This frame-raising mechanism is in duplicate, only the left-hand set being shown in Fig. 1, and designated by letter C.

As in conventional hand looms, the weave pattern is determined by the order in which preselected harness frames are released and dropped. Orderly arrangement of the various threads in the weave is attained automatically by the selector mechanism, detailed in Figs. 3 to 6 and designated in general by letter F.

Selector F comprises the following elements, viz. a latch for each bar D, a carrier having tappets thereon, a beater-actuated mechanism for imparting stepwise movement to the carrier, a striker whereby two or more tappets are caused to release in unison two or more corresponding harness frame bars D.

'Ihe carrier may be a conveyor of any suitable construction, .such as a plate, a disk, a link chain, or, as is illustrated here, it may be a cylindrical drum-like rotor I rotatable in peripheral end bearings 2 which are provided in supporting members 3 and 4.

The tappets are mounted in spaced relation on the rotor I. As shown in Figs. 3 and 6, which illustrate the rotor as organized to make a diamond pattern in the finished article, twelve longitudinal rows of holes are used in which tappets are slidingly mounted. Each longitudinal row 6 has as many holes as there are harness frames, namely in this instance, four. All tappets 5 are interchangeable in the various holes and are kept in place by their enlarged heads 'i and by removable fasteners such as cotter pins 8. There are two tappets in each row of holes. The specic arrangement of the two tappets in the row is determined by the desired dropping sequence of the harness frames, caused by releasing latches 9 from notches I of the upright bars D. Other patterns can be developed at will by appropriately rearranging the tappets on the rotor, or by substituting other rotors with different numbers of tappets differently arranged.

Each latch 9 tends to enter a notch IB in the upright bar D. Latch 9 is on a suitable lever, preferably an L-lever II, which is pivoted at I2 to a fixed support.

When the horizontal arm of any lever II is depressed counter to the action of a spring I3 a corresponding latch 9 is released and the corresponding harness frame drops.

Figs. 3, 4, and show mechanisms worked by the beater A for. advancing the rotor I stepwise, so as to bring two selected tappets, 5, into position adjacent the horizontal arms of two out of four of the L-levers II.

The tappets 5 are loose in their holes 6 and their heads 'I slide upon the upright sloping ends I4 of the horizontal arms of L-levers II, thus retracting the tappets into the rotor.

A slide bar I6, Fig. 3, moves toward the right during its principal working stroke, being actuated by the beater A, through the frame-raising mechanisms C, Fig/1. A pawl Il pivoted to bar I5 engages a ratchet notch I5 on the rotor I and revolves it one-twelfth of a revolution at each operation, thus placing two or more tappets 5 of a longitudinal row in line with corresponding VL-levers II, as previously described.

A snap-action striker i8 is raised and released by slide bar I so as to impinge simultaneously upon the several tappets 5 thus positioned. When f destined station a chock 22 on slide bar I6 is engaged by one of the peripheral ratchet notches I5 and blocks any further rotation of rotor I, as is shown in Fig. 3a.. A detent v23 is employed to prevent back lash of rotor I. While the rotor is thus held against undesirable movement in either direction, the striker VI8 is released and delivers its blow on the two tappets as just described.

A cam 24 on ann I9 is located in the pathof travel of a spring-sustained trigger 25 which is pivotally mounted on slide bar I6. As the trigger.25 passes under the cam V24 in the direction of the arrow it raises the striker I 8, tensioning the spring 2|. When the trigger 2.5 passes the righthand end of the cam 24 the striker I8 snap-s down. When trigger 25 returns with the reverse movement of vslide bar I6 `its sustaining spring' 26 allows it to fold down so as to pass under cam 24 without lifting the striker I8.

It will now be apparent that at each complete stroke of the slide bar I6 to the right in Fig. 3, the pawl I1 which is normally raised by a spring 21, Fig. 3, engages a ratchet notch I5 of the rotor I and pushes the latter around one-twelfth of a revolution, bringing two tappets, '5, into line with two corresponding L-levers I I. Striker I8 thereupon hits both tappets simultaneously and thus actuates the latches 9 to dropl the corresponding harness frames.

When the harness frames drop, their weight drives the vertically slidable bar 34, Fig. 1, downward, and this bar, through suitable lug' and collar connections with rod 39, returns the selector slide bar I6 to its original position, shown in Fig. 3.

The striker I8, after delivering itsblow,lstays down and so holds latch 9 away from bar DI until again raised on the next cycle of operations.

The striker I8 can impinge on the tappets 5 only when the beater A is movingtoward the operator and has almost completed its forward stroke. The beater A, while in that Zone has no further effect upon the selector mechanism F after the release of latches 9. This rallows the operator to use the beater as many times as he may desire while it is in its near position, for driving each weft thread into the cloth without any risk of inadvertently actuating the selector mechanism.

The interconnecting mechanism C, by which the beater is operatively connected to the harness frames and is also connected to the selector F, will now be described.

Referring to Figs. l, 7, 8, and 9, it is seen that beater A has connected to it an arm 28equipped with a turn buckle 29 by which the length of the arm can be adjusted to compensate for wear or for structural deformations caused by racking the frame.

The lower end of arm 28, Fig. '7, is offset and carries a pair of rollers 38. The offset portion rests on a leaf spring 3I whichA has a tendency to urge rollers 38 toward the left and thus keep them in position to travel upwardly along the lefthand faces of a pair of upright ribs 32 which are part of the housing 33. The rollers 38 will travel up to the tops of the ribs 32 on the pull movement of the beater, and then shift to the right, and on the push movement of th-e beater they roll down along the right-hand faces of the ribs until the end of arm 28 contacts spring 3l.

It is now evident thatrepeated pulling and thrusting movements of the beater A throughout its maximum range of movement will cause rollers 38'to repeatedly travel up one face of the ribs :32 and then down the other face. Shortly after :commencing its upward travel the offset portionof arm 28 carrying the rollers 38 rises from spring 3l and begins to lift a Vertical bar 34 which, f,

by its enlarged upper end 35, lifts all of the dropped frames B. f

Means for operating the selector slide bar I6 is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The ends of bar I6 are connected by means of horizontal rods 36, levers 31, 38, and vertical rods 39 with the respective sets of frame raising mechanisms located at each side of the loom framework.

Each vertical rod 39 passes through an apertured lug 48 on the Vharness frame lifting bar 34; 'and collars 4I, 42 are fixed to the selector rod 39 -above andbelow the lugs 48. A cushioning spring -43 surrounds the rod 39 above the lug 48.

Each pull mov-ement of the beater A toward Ythe operator moves lug 48 up and by engaging spring 43 against collar 4I the rod 39 and the slide bar I6 are moved and the selector mechanism is actuated, in rthe manner and for the purposes described.

' When bar I6 is clear to the right, Fig. 2, the.'

rollers 38 will have arrived at the 'top of guide ribs32 and the harness frame rails B will be at the highest point of their vupward travel. The

rollers 38 now passv across the tops of the ribs 32, Fig. 7, and out from under the bar 34. The bar 34 drops to its original starting point under its own weight and that of the harnesses not engaged by latches 9. The rollers 38 then pass down along the backs of the ribs 32 without any further effect on the frame lifting mechanism of the selector.

The foregoing description relates to our preferred embodiment of the inventive concept, and

for commercial purposes, especially in. the capability of the apparatus to produce an unlimited `number of patterns and designs of work and also in .some mechanical respects, it is the most desirable of several possible designs.

In some cases, however, it is deemed advisable to provide a harness frame selecting apparatus with `a less number of parts, although not capable of producing such a variety of work. `Such an embodiment of the invention may be made by simply omitting the striker I 8 with its arm 29 and cam 24 and also omitting the trigger 25 and its spring 26. The tappets are in this case projected to their outward position and there fastened, or they may be made an integral part of the rotor I by welding or otherwise.

When'such a rotor is given a stepwise movement the rigid tappets will operate by wiping action on the inclines I4 of the levers I I and thereby will release the latches 9. In all other respects the action of the machine will be the same as that described in the foregoing specification. It will be understood that in the preferred form, Figs. 3 and 5, the tappets 5 are slidable in rotor I, whereas in the modified form here referred to they are in effect integral with the rotor I. However, both forms will for convenience be designated herein by the term tappets and it will be so understood.

The alternative design in question is limited in its capacity for producing different patterns by the space occupied by the projecting tappetsA in relation to the lever II, whereas with the movable tappets there is practically no commercial limit to the capacity of the machine, and furthermore, the machine can be repeatedly changed from producing one pattern to the production of a.

diiferent pattern. The movable tappet, however, has another important advantage in that the only parts subjected to any wear in the tripping action of the selector are the cam 24 and trigger 25. These parts are easily replaceable.

.Looms equipped with our improvement have furnished remunerative employment for blind persons who, although possessing manual skill were not able to master the rather intricate technique of operating a hand loom, the learning of which involved following a memorized thread pattern combination.

With a loom equipped according to our invention, wherein the pattern combinations can be mechanically incorporated in the selecting mechanism by a seeing person before weaving is commenced, the thread sequences do not require any attention or thought by the blind weaver. He merely attends to the threading of the loom, traces out and ties occasional broken threads, and works the beater back and forth without risk of spoiling goods by mistaken arrangement of warp threads. If anything goes wrong in the normal operation of the selector, or elsewhere in the machine the characteristic sound of the several working parts changes and thus immediate notice is given to the operator.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a loom, the combination, with a beater and a series of vertically movable harness frames and mechanical intercommunications actuated by the beater for lifting all of the harness frames, of means for selecting and dropping certain of the harness frames while retaining others in raised position, said selecting and dropping means comprising a carrier mechanism including a rotatable hollow drum adapted to be actuated stepwise by the beater during each cycle of its operation, and having selector elements comprising tappets individually movable on said drum being interchangeable thereon from operative to inoperative position at th-e will of the operator and according to the weave of the pattern desir-ed to be produced, and adapted to cause certain of the frames to be dropped at each operation of the beater.

2. In a loom, the combination, with a beater and a series of vertically movable harness frames and mechanism actuated by the beater for lifting all of the harness frames, of means actuated by said frame-lifting mechanism for selecting and dropping certain of the harness frames while others remain in raised position, said selector means comprising a carrier actuated by the beater and members associated with said carrier and mounted thereon adjustably for projection or retraction therefrom, for selectively releasing at each operation of the beater certain of the frames to be dropped, appropriate to the weave of the pattern desired to be produced'.

3. In a loom, the combination, with a beater and a series of vertically movable harness frames and mechanism actuated by the beater for lifting all of the harness frames, of a selector actuated by said mechanism during the lifting of said frames for dropping certain of the frames while permitting others to remain in raised position, said selector comprising a drum to which stepwise rotational movement is imparted by the beater, and tappet members associated with said drum and positioned for selectively actuating, at each cycle of operations of the beater, certain of the harness frames to be dropped,

appropriate to the weave of the pattern being produced.

4. In a loom, the combination, with a beater and a series of harness frames having upright b-ars and means for holding the same in raised position, of individual releasing means for each bar, a carrier having tappets movably mounted thereon, means imparting to the carrier step-bystep movements for establishing tappets in position to actuate said releasing means, a striker arranged to impinge upon tappets thus established, and mechanical intercommunications operated by the beater and actuating respectively the harness frames, the carrier and the striker,

whereby the harness frames are raised, thel tappets are positioned, and the striker is released in regular predetermined sequence.

5. In a loom having a beater, the combination, with harness frames capable of rising and falling vertically, each having an upright rod projecting therefrom and formed with a shoulder, of a series of levers equal in number to the rods, each lever having a spring-actuated latch member positioned to get under the shoulder of a corresponding rod when in raised position; means for selectively actuating certain of said latches in predetermined sequence and comprising a series of tappets arranged on a carrier having stepwise movements for positioning certain tappets of the series operatively in relation to corresponding levers; a striker arranged to simultaneously actuate all tappets thus positioned Ato release latches of corresponding harness frames, and mechanical interconnections between the aforesaid tappet carrier and the beater whereby the following operations are performed in sequence: raising and free suspension of all harness frames, forwarding the carrier to bring certain of the tappets into operative position, and actuation of said tappets by the striker.

6. In a loom, a harness frame selector comprising a series of levers each presenting a spring-actuated latch member, tripping means for releasing certain of said latch members in predetermined sequence and comprising a series of individually movable tappets arranged on a carrier, said carrier having stepwise movements for positioning two or more tappets of the series operatively in relation to corresponding levers, and a striker arranged to simultaneously actuate all tappets thus positioned, thereby releasing the latches of corresponding harness frames.

7. In a loom, a harness frame selector comprising a series of levers each presenting a latch member, tripping means for releasing certain of said latch members in predetermined sequence and comprising a series of tappet members arranged in rowsof various arrangement on a carrier and projecting therefrom, said carrier having stepwise movements for positioning the tappets of successive rows operatively in relation to corresponding levers, and means simultaneously actuating all tappets of a row when thus positioned, for displacing the latches of corresponding harness frames.

8. In a change-pattern loom` having a beater and a series of vertically movable harness frames with mechanical intercommunications actuated by the beater for lifting all the frames and having latch-devices for releasing certain preselected frames while retaining others in raised position.; in combination, a carrier arranged for actuation by the beater stepwise toward said latch device, tappet-like elements individually movable on said carrier and arranged in parallel rows, the elements in each row being spaced apart and alined with corresponding latch devices, the disposition of elements being changeable according to the Weave of the pattern desired to be produced; and a snap-action striker actuated to impinge simultaneously upon the tappets of a row while engaged with said latch devices, for releasing the latter.

9. In a change-pattern loom having a beater and a 4series of vertically movable harness frames with mechanical intercommunications actuated by the beater for lifting all the frames, and having latch devices for releasing certain preselected frames While retaining others in raised position; said loom having, in combination, a carrier arranged for actuation by the beater stepwise toward said latch device and comprising a drumlike rotor having peripheral holes, tappet-like elements slidingly mounted in said holes in parallel longitudinal rows, the tappet elements in each row being spaced apart and alined for engagement with corresponding latch-releasing devices, the said elements being interchangeable in the various holes according to the weave of pattern desired to be produced; andra snapaction striker adapted to impinge simultaneously upon the tappets of a row engaged with said latch devices, for releasing the latter.

l0. A selective latch releasing device for loom harness frames comprising a carrier having tappets individually movable thereon and interchangeably arranged in spaced relation in longitudinal rows, means for imparting stepwise movement to said carrier, mechanism actuating said carrier to bring tappets of each row into position against corresponding latches and comprising a longitudinally movable bar operated by the beater of a loom and connected by pawl and ratchet devices to said carrier, a snap action striker actuated by said bar to impinge upon all tappets of a row thus positioned, thereby causing all of that row to release appropriate harness frame latches.

11. A structure as set forth in claim wherein the carrier comprises a hollow rotatable drum mounted on a fixed support, the periphery of the drum having holes therein, and said tappets being sllidably mounted in said holes for length- Wise movement therein in radial direction.

ERIC S. WESSBORG. WILLIAM J. MORRISON. 

